Posts tagged with 'Disneyland'

It’s not much to go on and we have admittedly jumped the gun before, but an announcement by Disney Publishing Worldwide has renewed our speculation that Duffy’s gal pal, Shellie May, may finally be coming stateside to join the original Disney bear. Since our original speculation — based on trademarks — she has in fact shown up in the United States in the form of merchandise sold at the Aulani resort in Hawaii. Oddly enough, Duffy has found an additional new friend at the Tokyo Disney Resort in the form of an art-loving cat by the name of Gelatoni.

Yesterday we provided official confirmation that the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim will in fact be getting a new night-time parade to coincide with the park’s 60th diamond celebration in 2015. As a result, we have seen tons of additional, unofficial information, including the following from people who have evidence of things as well as claims of information coming second-hand from parade head honcho Steve Davison:

While Disneyland will be getting a variation of ‘Paint the Night’ from Hong Kong Disneyland, it will not likely be called that — current name is unknown.

Shortly after the holiday pixie dust settles and Main Street, USA sparkles from being thoroughly cleaned by soap snow, the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California will begin prepping for a brand new night-time parade to begin during its 60th anniversary year.

The confirmed news comes way of two recently posted casting calls for both male and female dancers with auditions taking place the second week of January, 2015 (a start date for the parade itself was not provided). Although vague on details, the notices are looking to find ‘performers with strong dancing skills for an exciting and high-energy nighttime parade that winds its way through the heart of Disneyland Park.’ ‘Strong movement and dance skills’ are required.

As Walt Disney World’s ‘Frozen Summer Fun LIVE!’ event stars to unwind and Tokyo Disney begins prepping for their own ‘Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Fantasy‘ event, it seems the Disneyland Resort might be prepping for an event of their own. While Anna, Elsa and Olaf do appear in Disneyland’s pre-parade, a new listing on the official Disney Auditions website has us pondering…

A casting announcement has gone up seeking comedic actors to fill both a female and a male role for a ‘possible future special event and entertainment offerings,’ with descriptions as follows:

Just a few hours after officially confirming meet and greet character appearances by Hiro and Baymax from Disney’s upcoming animated feature Big Hero 6 (November 7, 2014), Disney Parks and Resorts has issued casting call notices to fill the role of Hiro.

Although the characters are expected to begin making in-park appearances beginning in the fall, the casting notices fail to mention approximate start dates for the roles, but also note that all look-a-likes (face characters) are expected to perform meet and greets in full costumes as well, so the start date of the position does not appear to directly reflect that of the Big Hero 6 meet and greets.

Although the Walt Disney World Resort differs in its philosophy for entertaining guests than its west coast counterpart, Disneyland — as the latter relies far more heavily on locals and keeping them amused — the Magic Kingdom’s nighttime fireworks program remained mostly unchanged for over a decade. Conversely, within that same time period, Disneyland has had three different shows debut. In other words, it may just be time for ‘Wishes’ to be retired.

While rumors have circulated for about a year regarding a replacement for ‘Wishes’ in either 2015 or 2016, one of the strongest pieces of evidence may in fact be one of the least reliable: domain names.

Walt Disney Records’ newly created line of collectible CDs, Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection, will celebrate the anniversaries of Disney’s most cherished and classic properties that have been enchanting audiences for generations. Through 2015, Walt Disney Records will celebrate 12 anniversaries including Pinocchio (75th), Fantasia (75th), Cinderella (65th), Lady and the Tramp (60th), Sleeping Beauty (55th), Mary Poppins (50th), The Lion King (20th) and Toy Story (20th), among others.

Walt Disney Studios has provided us with official character bios and ‘fun facts’ for its upcoming film Maleficent (May 30, 2014), which you can find below.

Maleficent explores the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the classic Sleeping Beauty and the elements of her betrayal that ultimately turn her pure heart to stone. Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the moors over which she presides, Maleficent cruelly places an irrevocable curse upon the human king’s newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Aurora is caught in the middle of the seething conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom that holds her legacy. Maleficent realizes that Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land and is forced to take drastic actions that will change both worlds forever.

In support of its in-park preview of Maleficent (May 30, 2014) which starts tomorrow at both the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts, Disney Parks has released this featurette titled ‘Reinventing the Tale’ which features Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, screenwriter Linda Woolverton and director Robert Stromberg talking about the film. There’s also a bit of new footage in it as well. You can find the video embedded below.

I have long been a fan of the (junior) novelizations of the Disney family of films, so when I was offered the opportunity to read the novelization of Maleficent by Disney Publishing Worldwide, I jumped at the opportunity. What I expected was a novelization based on the film; what I did not expect were two novelizations: Maleficent and The Curse of Maleficent: The Tale of a Sleeping Beauty, both available April 29, 2014.